Thailand looks to a return to growth

Thailand’s People Power Party government bears a close resemblance to Thaksin Shinawatra’s overthrown administration, and Thaksin is widely seen as its eminence grise. The government has big plans for infrastructure development but it is highly exposed to a contraction of US export demand and the potential for inflation. Eric Ellis reports.

Thailand’s new finance minister, Surapong Suebwonglee

Thailand’s new finance minister, Surapong Suebwonglee: the surprise choice for the job has been impressive

IT WAS A simple act but, for Asia, an unusual one. If it catches on, it could mark a new era for how economic policy is executed in coup-plagued Thailand. On March 8, in the surroundings of Bangkok’s mock-Venetian palazzo of a Government House, Thais witnessed a rare display of national unity when the country’s shadow finance minister called on his recently elected opposite number in government, who graciously received him.

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